ST School Pocket Money Fund, Quantedge Foundation tie-up gives children credits for enrichment

SINGAPORE – Children from lower-income families will receive $3,000 a year to pick up a new sport or instrument, or take part in enrichment programmes through a new partnership between The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund (STSPMF) and Quantedge Foundation.

The credits will be provided to 50 STSPMF beneficiaries aged seven to nine through Quantedge’s Social Mobility Fund in early 2027. The children can then spend the credits on a curated range of opportunities and products available on the fund’s platform.

The latest partnership was announced during STSPMF’s annual appreciation lunch on Oct 2 at the SPH Media auditorium in Toa Payoh.

Speaking at the event, STSPMF chairman Jaime Ho said the platform addresses unequal access to opportunities and gives lower-income families both the resources and the choice to decide what will help their children thrive.

“Recess money remains important, but our children also want the opportunity to learn beyond the classroom, explore their interests, try new things and enjoy the same meaningful experiences as their peers,” said Ho, who is also editor of The Straits Times.

He added that the STSPMF supported about 11,000 students in 2026, an increase from 7,000 from 2024. The increase was a result of widening the fund’s qualification criteria to match the Ministry of Education’s Financial Assistance Scheme.

Quantedge Foundation chief executive Xie Yao Quan said that as societies become more successful, opportunity gaps grow between those who have more resources and those who have less.

Said Xie, who is also MP for Jurong Central: “That difference in opportunities available to a child can matter as that gap compounds over the child’s life course. We want to provide more opportunities… for children who are born to backgrounds with less resources.”

Hyder Albar, who oversees the Social Mobility Fund at Quantedge Foundation, said higher-income households are more likely to be able to afford services and products than lower-income households, whose lack of access can compound to a disadvantage over time.

For example, a report published by the Institute of Policy Studies on Sept 25 found that mean monthly tuition expenditure increased from $318 in 2016 to $677 in 2026. A lower-income family may not be able to afford spending that money on tuition, said Albar.

In the initial phase, the new fund will support 50 Singaporean children from families with a per capita income of $1,000 or below. The platform will be improved based on how families use the digital wallet and make choices.

The $3,000 will be disbursed in three tranches of $1,000.

The platform’s offerings include tuition, dance lessons, drawing and painting lessons, robotics classes, coding classes, football training and swimming lessons.

It will also offer products that support learning or participation, such as books or activity equipment like tennis rackets.

The Social Mobility Fund aims to benefit more families and children from a broader age group in the future, and bring in more philanthropic partners.

While the fund allows families to choose freely from the courses available, a child who repeatedly misses classes after enrolment may not be able to access further bookings.

Selected products will have purchase limits – higher-value products, such as guitars, may be limited to one per child.

During the appreciation lunch, founder and chief executive of MES Group Mohamed Abdul Jaleel also presented a cheque for $500,000 to the STSPMF.

STSPMF beneficiary Krystal Lim said she hopes to take part in art classes or acting lessons if she gets access to the Social Mobility Fund.

The 11-year-old West Spring Primary School pupil’s dream is to be an action movie star, taking after her idols Zendaya and Tom Cruise.

Started by ST in 2000, STSPMF provides pocket money to children from low-income families to help them through school.

It has since helped more than 230,000 children and youth in need and disbursed more than $110 million.

Primary school pupils get $65 a month, secondary school students receive $100 a month, while students from the Institute of Technical Education, junior colleges and polytechnics get $125 a month.